ADL: White supremacist propaganda spreading on US college campuses

White supremacist propaganda on American college campuses has seen a dramatic increase since the fall of 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

In a report published Thursday, the ADL calls the reported growth “alarming.” ADL’s Center on Extremism records 346 incidents in which white supremacists have used fliers, stickers, banners, and posters to spread their message since September 1, 2016, the report says.

The incidents are recorded on 216 college campuses in 44 states and Washington, D.C.

During the fall semester of 2017 (September 1 through December 31), a total of 147 incidents involved what ADL considers white supremacist propaganda on campuses — a 250 percent leap over the corresponding period in 2016, when ADL recorded 41 such cases.

“White supremacists are targeting college campuses like never before,” ADL National Director Jonathan Greenblatt says in a statement. “They see campuses as a fertile recruiting ground, as evident by the unprecedented volume of propagandist activity designed to recruit young people to support their vile ideology.”

Among the most active white nationalist groups identified is the Identity Evropa, which accounted for 158 of the 346 incidents recorded by ADL. Other prominent groups included the Patriot Front and Vanguard America.

Campuses in Texas and California see the most incidents recorded last fall at 61 and 43, respectively.

— JTA